Troble in Transylvania
by imici
Summary: Harry and Remus are sent to Romania to ask help from th Vampire Council


Harry landed dizzily at the International Portkey Station of Romania. Stumbling over he was caught by Remus Lupin, who was his companion and guardian on this mission. They were traveling to Transylvania for a meeting with the Vampire council. This meeting might be giving them the necessary support to defeat the Dark Lord.

After leaving the Chamber that served as the portkey station they were awaited by a witch. "Good day! My name is Irina Păulescu, you can call me Irina or Ina and I will be your guide while you attend to your duties in our beautiful country" said the brown haired young woman in front of them, her dark chocolate colored hair was shoulder length and unruly. Her eyes were green with brown spots and she wore some discreet looking glasses. She had muggle clothes on; jeans that where tucked up to reveal her ankles, black fitting t-shirt with strange white markings on it and some worn snickers. Noticing that both of the man looked at her not so formal attire she snickered. "I am sorry to inform you but in our country we do not often use robes but muggle clothes. It might seem strange to you British wizards who are a bit too clingy of traditions, but this is a free country where magical and normal people can coexist without disturbing one another."

At her statement both Harry and Lupin looked at her as if she said something funny. "Do not worry miss we can adapt quickly to new situations." Said the werewolf and motioned her to show them the changing room.

After ten minutes or so they changed into casual muggle clothes and proceed with the necessary paperwork for their little excursion. While Remus dealt with the paperwork Ina and Harry sat in the hall waiting for him.

"So you are the infamous savior of your country." said the young woman with a grin.

"That would be me." sighed the teen dreading the attention he would receive even away from his home.

"Don't worry you might be a celebrity at home, but here you are just another … what word do you use in English… ah, yes, handsome face. And the only attention you'll get is because you are not local, but that's it." Patting the teen rather hard on the shoulder "Oh, sorry I always forget that I have more force than necessary in my body."

"No worries" said Harry watching the girl panic "I'm used to rough treating." With that he earned an honest smile. "So… What is it like to live in a country full of dragons, vampires and don't know what else?"

"Well, I like it here and all afore mentions creatures live in different regions of the Carpathian Mountains. But you will find that out pretty soon because we will have to travel all the way there by different means of transport because you can not apparate there directly, obviously because of security measures to protect the creatures that live there."

"It is natural you want to prevent any mishap of happening." Harry wanted to ask her something but was interrupted by an elderly looking man in suit.

"Domnișoara Păulescu sper că o să vă purtați adecvat pe misiunea asta și o să aduceți clienții înnapoi fără o zgârietură."(Miss Păulescu I hope that you will behave yourself and you will bring our clients back without a scratch.) scolded the man in Romanian.

"Fiți fără griji șefu, de obicei, le aduc înnapoi. Știți că eu sunt cea mai bună pentu o misiune ca asta."(Don't worry boss, usually I bring them back. You know that I'm the best for this mission) after some instructions from the old guy Ina went back with a huge smile.

"So as I said before we need to choose a mean of travel. We can go by train or bus/car to the edge of the wards and from there by foot or we can apparate the nearest we can and from there by foot. We always could get some horses or ATB's, but they can't reach the places we need to climb." They really did not have many choices "I would suggest the train because we are not awaited till sunset, for obvious reasons so we might as well enjoy the ride and the sightseeing."

"It is fine by me!" came the answer from behind of the young woman "We might as well proceed."

They went to the _'Gara de Nord' _the main train station of Bucharest. They boarded the 10:37 train in the direction of their destination, Brasov (also known as Kronstadt, one of the Saxon cities of Transylvania). After an hour of flat land and meadows dotted whit small towns and villages the horizon was framed in the distance by magnificent mountains. Hills grew out of the earth rocketing higher and higher until they were giant mountains sliced by narrow valleys. The valleys sliced deep into them creating places where humans could build houses quite a distance from each other. The railway was often carved into the cliffs dangerously close to some quick paced mountain creek_. (For picture references use keywords like Predeal, Sinaia, Castelul Bran, Valea Prahovei). _The whole ride was relaxing and was over in 3 hours. Brasov was tucked snugly under the high mountains revelling in its protection. The city was a mix of old and new buildings, the "blocks" as the locals called them were the reminders of the dead communist regime.

It was quite warm weather, so Ina suggested that they visit an old friend of her on the way to the vampire territory.

"His name is Mathias and he is an oracle." said the girl as they made their way up some steps near the fortifications wall in the old city. The house on the end of the narrow ally was a faded yellow old two store 18 century merchant home.

"Aren't oracles supposed to be female?" asked Harry looking back at Remus who nodded at him.

Ina was about to answer them when the heavy old gate opened with a creak and a blond young man peaked out. "It's not my fault that my twin sister died before birth leaving her magic to me." His voice reminded Harry of the deep voice of a slytherin girl in his year, Millicent Bullstrod, maybe some relative of the oracle.

"No I'm not related to anyone in the U.K." answered the unasked question the blond. "Before you ask I can read minds so try to use those shields of yours that your professor tried to beat into your head. It's quite annoying hearing every little thought of people surrounding you. Anyway come in and have some lemonade with me till you can continue to the castle."

Heeding the advice the British wizards erected their shields. Soon after entering they found themselves in the inner garden of the house sitting by the wrought iron table with matching chairs sipping lemonade with a strange flavour.

"It's a local speciality, its elderflower and lemon syrup mixed whit mineral water. It has a cooling effect in the summer." said Mathias before turning to Ina "You know Mother won't be impressed by these two, they should have sent some other than a wolf."

"Is this a future vision of yours?" asked Harry interrupting them

"I'm an oracle and not a seer. I know things; I do not predict the future. What do they teach you western people." glared the young man pinching the bridge of his nose "You don't need to be magical to know these thing; you simply have to skim trough a mythology book."

"What did you mean by mother? You don't smell like a vampire." interjected Remus before the two young man start to fight seeing that their guide was amused by them and would do nothing to stop the now pouting youngsters. The late afternoon sun shone blindingly at the all. A slight breeze ruffled the huge cherry tree in one corner of the garden.

Suddenly smiling at the werewolf, Mathias tilted his head to the right. "We" indicating him and the girl "call the leader of the vampire council like that. While it's safe for any kind magical being, it is not really wise mentioning them freely in this country if you are local, like this they rarely catch on. The Orthodox Church is stuck in the middle ages and they hunt them sometimes. They still exorcize possessed people."

"I thought things like that happen only in movies." said Harry looking sheepish.

"Not when you live in a country where legends are still real." answered Ina grimly.

"It's time you heed out; you still have a long way before you. Ina, use the passage way." motioned to the oracle the huge stone bench on the far end of the garden. "Before you ask, mother made sure they can be used." Turning to Harry he added "An advice if you please. Do not fall for appearances; things tend to be other what they look. Especially nasty old geezers."

With that said the young man turned and disappeared in the house. At the same time the heavy stone bench moved out of the way revealing a staircase. From her backpack the girl fished out two flashlights and handed one to Remus. "You should be the last, being what you are." She turned the flashlight on and disappeared in the tunnel before calling back "_wands at ready_".

Harry looked at his former professor, who smiled at him in turn. "After you Harry." Pushing the young man before him they too descended the few stairs and hurried to catch on with their guide. They walked silently for an hour or so only interrupted by infrequent calls of "_watch your step_" or "_mined your heads_".

The last words of the oracle repeated themselves in Harry's head. Strangely enough images of Snape flashed in his mind. Shaking his head after he stumbled on a rock, he tried to concentrate on the road. After an hour and half crawling through the narrow pat they reached the end of it. Soon Harry realised that they were in a well. Correcting himself at the bloody bottom of a 20m (65.6 feet) deep well, with no rope or ladder to climb out. He soon voiced his concern. "How are going to get up there?" pointing upwards.

"Are you a wizard or not? Use that stick of yours." Quirking an eyebrow she pulled her wand from the invisible strap on her forearm. In a moment she transfigured a pebble lying on the ground into a long fire escape ladder and without a word she climbed up. Flabbergasted Harry glanced on his former professor's face finding an amused smile on it. Slightly pouting he climbed the ladder only to find their guide in a fight with some black cloaked figures. Clearly death eaters had the same thought and now they were shutting their way of. Leaping from the well wand at ready the duelling began. There they were three against ten holding their ground. Stunning two and disarming one he turned around to see the other seven already put out cold. Three were paralysed each with a dagger sticking out from various parts of their body. Two lay roped up at Remus's feet and another two hung above the girl unconscious.

"Not bad for a 16 year old." Ina shot a glance at Harry while kneeling down to retrieve her daggers and to bind them together. "Bring them over here. We need to bind the lot together and I will activate a portkey that will send them to the 'Securitate' headquarters… our police." quickly supplying at the blank look on Harry's face. "I would apparate them away but we are already inside the wards, and can only portkey out, but not in. hold on a minute I need to pin a note to them that they entered this territory without permission." With everything done they were swept away within moments.

Turning around she wanted to show the direction they were heading to when another cloaked figure appeared out of the shadow of a cliff. The sun seemed to be setting in a quick pace making every shadow long.

"Ce căutați voi în ținuturile nouastre, omeni jalnici ce sunteti?" (What are you looking for in our lands? You patetic humans that you are.) asked threateningly the newly arrived and moved closer to them.

"Încetează cu ptostia Radu. Știai că astăzi o să vin cu delegați Angliei." (Chase your nonsense Radu. You knew I was going to bring today the English delegacy.) the young woman waved a sheet of paper in front of her. It was the permision sent by the Vampire council for them.

„Then might I inquire, who the intruders were?" his English was smooth with a tad bit of accent indicating some other oringins then of the visitors.

„Death Eather" interjected Harry.

„If I presume correctly they didn't request an apointment with the Council?" her question was not answered. The vampire turned on his heals walking away. They kenw this was their cue to folow him. After ten more minutes of climbig a rocky path they felt some prickeling indicating other wards. The next time Harry looked up he saw an imposing castel before him(for reference look for Bran castle) it looked a lot like the Bran Castel the muggle thought to be the nest of Dracula, but actually it was larger and a fortress was around the castle and the small vilage of vampires. The bridge that they stood in front was the only way in and out of the fortress by foot, or so it seamed. What nobody beside the council knew there were a dozen of passageways built trough the millenia for escape in case of danger.

Entering the gates they found themseves in a much larger place that it seamd from the otside. Both their guides turned to the man at the gate. Because the sun already sat they found everyone lively wondering the streats. The shops and inn were full. Not far from the gate to the left they saw a great archway with a strange translucently black material in it. Armed guards were at both sides. At the moment on the side that faced the stonewall of the fortres came out two females quickly scanned by the guards then directed to the man who sat at the in front of a great book with a pen in the hand.

Irina seeing that the british wizards looked around curiously took it upon herself to explain everithing.

"The archway there is a portal connected to many others around the world. Vampires use it as a mean of transport this way they don't have to go into sunlight. You can't see it now but the wards around the castle do not let the sunlight trough, daytime it is not so dark but the offending sunlight is kept out. The side to the wall is where they com trough and are immediately registered by the man sitting there. He then files the name, occasion and the extent of time they want to spend here. The other side is for departure. Each house here is the property of different clan and they are used by the travelers. They have from cloths to high-tech shops everything here. That building there that looks like a glass pyramid is the Vampire World trade and Investment Center. They do their banking, investment and stock trading there. Vampires have investments everywhere. How else could they afford to get blood donors or to clean every trace in case of some misfortunate accidents?" she concluded. Seeing that Radu finished the registration she motioned the other two to follow them.

"Our security is almost unreachable, that is why we need to keep account who comes and leaves." said Radu setting the direction. "All you see here is the first vampire city built on the estate of our first, you know him as Graf Dracula, he might not be the originator of vampirism, but he was the one who united the clans and stopped the useless feud and bloodshed between vampire clans and the long war between lycans and our kin. How much do you know about our society?"

"I was told that you have 9 vampire city reigned by 9 elders and Dracula is their Lord?" it came out as more of a question than an answer that Harry hesitantly provided. He received a nod. It seemed he won't get any further explanation at the moment.

The castle was at the far end of the establishment on a cliff. After many stairs outside and inside too they found themselves in a great hall. At a platform in front of them was a throne. To left and right in a half cycles were high chairs with crests engraved into each.

"Wait here please until we announce the council." With that the vampire and Irina went to the door behind the throne followed closely by Remus.

Harry was studying one of the crests, when he saw a small girl hidden behind one of the high chairs to the right. Her hair was dark brown and wavy pulled into a ponytail. She had a blood red long dress on and a small black kitten was closely clutched to her chest. She looked to be ten year old.

"Don't be afraid." said Harry while approaching her. Kicking himself mentally when he remembered where he was, _like she would be afraid of a stranger when she lives whit vampires._ She smiled up at him shyly. "Do you speak English?"

"Uhu." came the childish reply her voice sweet and high and a small laugh rung trough the hall. "Of course I can, silly. My name is Katherine and this is my kitty, Lulu. Do you like kitties?"

"Um… yeah I like cats." said Harry a little embarrassed clearing his voice. "Nice to meet you Katherine and Lulu. I'm Harry,"

"Come and play with me Harry." The little girl grabbed his hand and proceeded to drag him out of the room.

"I'm sorry but I can't right now I … have to wait for someone here." Interjected stopping, the girl turned around not letting his hand go.

"Oh don't worry; the adult will handle everything while we play." She was about to drag him through a door that he had not seen till now, when the one behind the platform swung open and the council closely followed by Remus came into the hall.

"Báthory Katalin, emgeded el azonnal!" (B. K. let go of him at once.) came a low but strong voice who spoke in Hungarian. "A feladataid helyett már megint játszol." (Instead of performing your duty you play.)

Instantly the little girl let go of his hand pouting she made her way to the man who now sat in the throne while the councul members took their places. The man was maybe in his sixtyes. A few wrinkle graced hi forhead and his dark hair was dusted with white. A simple golden band was around his head. The little girl let her cat fall unto the a grmbe it tranformed into a large pather like beast and sateld itself by the eler man's feet. Out of nowhere another smaler throne apeared at the left of the big one and the girl climbed onto it.

"Báthory? Isn't that the infamous vampire?" mused Harry.

"Oh you mean Elisabeth, my great grand nice. No, she was a mortal who dwelled onto things she shouldn't." answered Katherine with a whisper leaning forward as if it was some great secret she was revealing,

"Now that is cleared, can we get to the matter at hand?" asked the man half annoyed half amused by being ignored by the two.

"Of course my Sire."

Soon enough Harry and Remus were seated in the middle of the room and the hearing begun. Remus presented their request relying Dombledor's message, then the court politely requested them to live the hall until a decision is made. After 20 minutes they were called in.

"The Council decided!" spoke the man on the platform. "It is against the laws of immortals to interfere with the problems of the mortal world." to not to be interrupted by a growling Harry he raised his hand "However the current situation, like few others, gets under the exceptions. The treat that Dark Lord Voldemort imposes not only on the British wizarding world but the muggle too not only on the island but the continent threatens to be the size of the world wars which we cannot and will not allow. We will provide a limited number of vampire fighters who will aid you and who will stop any rough vampire or revolting coven.''

"Thank you lord Dracula." said Remus bowing quickly followed by a flabbergasted Harry.

"I would say it was my pleasure, but I would be lying. It is never a pleasure braking our laws for the sake of stopping foolish and senseless war."

With that said and a nod of his head he left the hall followed by the council. Katherine still sitting on the back of her panther Lulu approached them.

"You are free now Harry, come play with me." Grabbing Harry's arm she slid of the panthers back and dragged the young man after her. "You can come to wolf. We will soon have dinner with Irina. You will stay the night then you go back to Bucharest."

She led them to a dining room where Irina already sat reading some book. She didn't even look up just moved her book a bit that the plates could appear undisturbed. The girl automatically sat at the head of the table pulling Harry to sit at her right. Remus sat next to Harry vis-à-vis Irina.

"It's so nice that you came to play with me Harry. It is so boring sitting in these meetings. I don't even know why I have to be there." A snort interrupted her rant. Till then she really looked like some little girl, but at this moment her whole body was tens oozing death and bloodlust and her long canines bared hissing. "I think you forget your place child. Do not forget whom you own your life."

Even though she was threatened her only reaction was pouting. "You are mean Mother."

"Don't call me that ever again." came another hiss from the petit vampire; it only earned her a pout.

"Excuse me for interrupting you milady, but I think you make poor Harry more confused than a confundus charm." Remus interfered almost laughing at the face the young savior made trying to figure out who Katherine was.

"Oh, how rude of me. I was born into an old and well respected family here in Transylvania and turned by Dracula himself when I was 12. I'm kind of like her daughter."

"What she does not want to dump on you, Harry is that she is a bloody killer and all the council members are afraid of her and that is why she was named the elder of the European clans. She ruthlessly slaughtered all the rough vampires that threatened the new peace treaty not long after she was turned earning her place." Remus unceremoniously enclosed this tiny little piece of information making Irina laugh hard. Harry gawked at Katherine while the said vampire sat whit her 'cat' in her lap playing idly whit a cherry tomato on her plate. What surprised everyone was Harry's next question.

"Can you even eat?"

After a long silence Katherine's laughter rung trough the dining hall echoing of the high ceiling. "Of course we can eat, but we don't need to. I eat because I like to taste things. It's a pity that we can't really hold food because of our body cant process it. Anyway the real reason I wanted to have dinner with you is that you can rely a message to a certain Potion Master at the school of yours Harry."

Harry was taken aback by this. "Please say to my great somewhat nephew of mine that he should visit me and give him this." She trust a small craved wooden box into his hand then excused herself and left.

The way back was uneventful the next day. Remus told him that the Prince family was a side branch of the Bathory's and they left Transylvania in the century shortly before it became part of the Habsburgian Empire. Before he knew they were back in Hogwarts and he was standing in front of Snap's office in the dungeons knocking on the door. After a growled 'enter' he stood in front of the man who unceremoniously held his hand out knowing too well what this might be about. With another growl he thanked the boy for playing postmen then threw him out. Opening the box he cured at the ring inside and the small not of _'I liked to make aquentice to you future suppose. With love your aunt Katherine'_.

Many hundred miles away a small girl sat in her swing giggling.


End file.
